Soaring sales of jet engines for the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner
have propelled Rolls-Royce to new records — but its chief executive said
that the group was still lagging behind its big American rivals.

Pre-tax profits for last year rose by 24 per cent to a record high of £1.4
billion, and the aero-engine giant unveiled a new chairman, Ian Davis, a
former McKinsey chairman, who saw action more recently heading BP’s response
to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

More than half of Rolls-Royce’s profits came from making and maintaining
commercial jet engines, an increase of 46 per